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Posts tagged: Smart Camera

The 2014 TEDxBeaconStreet conference took place on November 15 and 16 in Brookline, MA. Like other TED conferences, the talks centered on the themes of Technology, Education, and Design (TED).

Tthe event included 67 speakers, over 2,500 attendees, 3 venues, 3 viewing villages, and 20 event partners. The talks were recorded and will be available shortly at the TEDxBeaconStreet website. The organizers are hoping to achieve a target of 25 million views over the next year. So, check out some of the talks when you have a few moments.

Just because the camera phone — you know those handy cameras on feature phones and smartphones – has become the everyday camera for many people doesn’t mean it’s all doom and gloom for traditional cameras. In the most recent InfoTrends Digital Camera End User study we found that digital cameras are still being used to take more photos on average than a camera phone and used more often for special occasion photos. The survey also asked a “blue sky” question about interest levels in some current and possible digital camera offerings. Read more »

The annual PDN PhotoPlus Conference & Expo (PPE) was held October 24-27, 2012 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City. Since, several of the leading companies in the photo industry have U.S. headquarters in the New York metropolitan area, the PhotoPlus Expo is a great “home show” for many industry insiders. PPE draws a healthy contingent from the surrounding metropolitan region and has become a “go to” event. The show drew nearly 24,000 attendees and 250+ exhibitors filled the exhibit hall floor.

As part of the InfoTrends’ Digital Photography Trends service, we keep a close eye on new camera introductions. 2012 has already seen a good number of new cameras, 144 to be exact, and the year is only three-quarters through. Before the bustle of Q4/holiday announcements come out, we thought it would be a good time to give a little review of what is happening in the market so far.

Q1-Q3 Highlights

Smart cameras — Nikon and Samsung introduced “smart cameras” — Nikon with their Coolpix S800c and Samsung with the Galaxy cameras, both running the Android operating system coupled with built-in Wi-Fi. This marks the first real effort to create and deliver cameras that act like our smartphones. Will these be the “must have” cameras? Nikon and Samsung sure hope so.

Larger image sensors — One way that digital camera manufacturers areÂ differentiating themselves from their smartphone competition is with larger image sensors. Sony, Canon and Fujifilm have all introduced compact cameras with larger image sensors. SLRs are also getting image sensor improvements, with both Canon and Nikon introducing new models featuring a larger, full-size image sensor at price points that are well under those of previous full-frame SLR’s. These camera vendors are hoping that these new and improved sensors will resonate with consumers, and they should be a popular choice for enthusiast photographers that want higher resolution and better low-light capability at a lower price. If these types of cameras sell well, it won’t be long until other vendors introduce similar cameras to compete.

What is it?

The Coolpix S800c is Nikon’s first “Smart Camera” to combine its camera imaging expertise with Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), Google’s mobile platform. This is not the first smart camera to be announced this year. At the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January, Polaroid announced the SC1630 smart camera, a 16 MP Android-based camera. However, the camera has not launched yet, and it is questionable whether it will ever make it to market.